Ralf to Lose Ten Grid Positions in Hungary

German Ralf Schumacher will lose ten grid positions at the Hungarian Grand Prix after the German stewards found him guilty of causing an accident at the start of today's race.

The Williams driver, starting from second place, moved to the left at the start of the event, leaving Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello with no place to go. The Brazilian hit Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren, his car losing three wheels in the high-speed crash that saw all three drivers eliminated from the race.

The drivers were summoned after the race, and the stewards said Ralf was to blame for the accident.

"The stewards of the meeting received a report from the race director which stated that the driver of car no. 4 (R. Schumacher) caused an avoidable collision, contrary to article 53 of the 2003 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations and the drivers of car numbers 2, 4 and 6 (Rubens Barrichello, R. Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen) and respective team managers were summoned," the FIA said in a statement.

"Having heard the explanation of each driver and having seen the different camera views of the incident, the stewards conclude that R. Schumacher began to move to his left to obtain a better racing line for the corner. R. Schumacher admitted to paying no attention to the position of the other cars during this manoeuvre.

"The stewards note that it is absolutely clear that R. Schumacher's car made contact with car number 2 (Barrichello), which in turn made contact with car number 6 (Raikkonen). Both drivers of cars number 2 and 6 were caught in a set of circumstances over which they had no control.

The stewards of the meeting impose on the driver of car number 4 (R. Schumacher) a drop of 10 grid positions at the driver's next race, in accordance with article 55(c) of the 2003 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations. The competitor is reminded of its right to appeal."

It's the second time this kind of penalty is imposed in Formula One. Last year, Sauber driver Felipe Massa received the penalty for an accident at the Italian Grand Prix.